Come Monday
by JCI
Summary: "Do you think she made the right decision?" she asked, her voice low and raspy from disuse. "Keeping the baby, giving up on her dream?" "No," he whispered in response. "Neither do I." Post - "Requiem for a Dream" #3 in the "Chasing Glory" Universe


It wasn't birds chirping or even the weak rays of sunlight that had begun to peak through the early morning fog that woke Payson Keeler. Her eyes flickered open taking in the small tent she shared with Kaylie and Lauren, blinking once, twice, three times until she was fully awake.

Then she heard it again, the sound that had roused her from her sleep. The crunching of boots upon the stiff grass, growing softer now as whoever the boots belonged to left the camp site.

She lay there for a few more moments listening to Kaylie's soft breathing and Lauren's tiny snores, staring up at the tent's ceiling that was growing gradually brighter as the sun rose outside. She was awake, no changing that now, so she slipped from her sleeping bag, careful not to disturb her teammates and crept from the tent.

The campsite was quiet, the other tents still zipped up tight except for one. She tilted her head trying to remember who it belonged to and then scanned the area quickly. Her eyes landed on a shadowy figure backlit against the sunrise at the shore of the lake.

There was no mistaking that silhouette. Tall, broad shouldered and standing straight, one hand deep in the pocket of his jeans, the other holding a mug of steaming liquid, Sasha Belov commanded the space he occupied, even one as beautiful and peaceful as this.

She was so happy he was back. She'd barely been able to contain herself when she saw him frowning at her hotel room door through the peep hole in Hungary. She'd nearly launched herself at him in that moment, desperate to be sure he was real and not simply a figment of her imagination.

Payson tugged her sweater tightly around her body as she approached him, coming to stand next to him, but keeping silent. He glanced down quickly acknowledging her presence, but not speaking either.

She shivered as a soft breeze picked up, sending a wave of cool air around them and he wordlessly handed her his mug. She took it gratefully, warming her hands and then stealing a sip of the hot tea before offering it back. He simply shook his head, allowing her to keep it.

Silence reigned for a few more moments, before she asked him the question that had burned through her mind over and over again in the last few hours.

"Do you think she made the right decision?" she asked, her voice low and raspy from disuse. "Keeping the baby, giving up on her dream?"

"No," he whispered in response.

She took another sip and then sighed. "Neither do I."

He turned to her, studying her carefully. Payson brushed a wayward lock of hair away from her face and met his eye. "And you would have done differently, in her shoes?"

"I wouldn't have been in her shoes to begin with," she said firmly, shaking her head. "I can't imagine what she was thinking, putting everything she worked for, everything she dreamed of at risk, for what? Love?"

Sasha smirked, despite the seriousness of their conversation, "This from the girl who loves, _Romeo and Juliet_."

Payson allowed herself a small laugh, "Well, look where love got them," she said.

"Indeed," he said, looking back out at the lake.

"I was so angry at her. I still am," she said softly. "Giving up like that, quitting, she'll regret it for the rest of her life."

"You almost quit once, if I remember correctly," he admonished her.

She shook her head, "That was different," she insisted.

He turned to face her fully, "How?"

"Everyone has self-doubt, everyone has a moment when they think it's over, that their dreams are dead. That was what I thought, I thought I _couldn't_ do it, that I was physically incapable of becoming an artistic gymnast, until _someone _convinced me otherwise," she said, shifting her weight slightly, affectionately bumping her shoulder against his bicep, acknowledging him to be that someone. "It's different for Emily, she could be back training on Monday morning if she wanted to be, as if nothing happened."

Sasha's eyes met hers, "It can't be that easy, a decision like that."

Payson shook her head, knowing he misunderstood, "No, that's not what I...I don't mean it would be easy, but..." she sighed, finally giving into the question he asked her earlier, "but if it had been me, I would have been back on Monday morning, training harder than ever, because then it would be about more than just me, it would be about making the life I chose for myself better than the life I didn't choose," she said quietly, whispering her last words.

He nodded, still looking at her, but a new expression upon his face, one she'd never seen before. "And what about love? Emily loves..." he paused, frowning at himself for not knowing Emily's boyfriend's name.

"Damon," she supplied for him.

"Damon." He nodded, "She loves him, he loves her..."

Payson looked away from him and frowned, "Not enough to do what they knew was best for their dreams, or at least for Emily's dream. They promised to wait for each other, wait until after the Olympics and they went back on that promise and destroyed her dream. If they really loved each other they would have waited. Now, what will they have? He'll hate himself for destroying her dream and she'll resent him one day for it too and a baby growing up with parents who resent each other? It's..." she trailed off, not knowing how to describe it.

"Heartbreaking, tragic, disappointing," he suggested. "All of the above?"

She looked up at him, their eyes meeting again, "Exactly and such a waste of talent it makes me want to scream," she added for good measure.

"That too," he agreed.

They stood in silence, both watching the lake and the sunrise just beyond it, the moments ticking by slowly. "When the NGO called, did they say why they changed their minds about you?" she asked, softly, knowing it was because of her he'd lost out on the National coaching job the first time.

He nodded, looking down and then eyeing her carefully, "Someone anonymously sent in the full training cam video with..." he trailed off.

"With you pushing me away," she finished for him. "Good, everyone should know the truth, you didn't do anything wrong."

He sighed and rocked back and forth on his heels. "That's just it, Payson. I did do something wrong and...and I never would have been able to forgive myself if..."

"Will you ever stop blaming yourself for my idiotic attempt to kiss you?" she said, perhaps more harshly than she intended. "I misread the situation, Sasha and..."

He cut her off. "Except you _didn't." _

At his words she gasped sharply and turned to face him, eyes wide.

"I thought about it over and over again, went over everything that led up to that moment. It was my fault."

"Don't be ridiculous," she scoffed. "I should have been smart enough to realize that someone like you would never go for someone like..."

"Now who's being ridiculous?" he said, throwing her words back at her. "Christ, I shouldn't be saying this especially after everything that's happened."

Payson squinted at him, the sun having risen to her eye level, nearly blinding her. "Sasha?"

He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and studied the ground in front of him carefully, before finally glancing towards her. "I told you before, Payson. The relationship between a coach and athlete, it's one of the most complicated in the world, it requires a level of intimacy that most lovers never reach."

Her face flushed, "Sasha, I don't understand, we've been over this."

"I know, but what I need you to know before we go back to training on Monday, before things start to speed up and we start barreling towards the Olympics, I need you to know that I...that there were moments when I felt it too. You didn't misread anything in my actions, just my intentions and if circumstances were different."

"But they aren't different," she said, stopping him. She turned back toward the camp site to make sure they were still alone, which they were. "And you're right, I have no idea why you're telling me this now."

He ran a hand through his hair, "Because after everything that's happened in these last few weeks, hell in these last few bloody hours, I want you to know that there are...there are men out there who will be honest and do what's right for your dreams, even if it means..."

"Running away and hiding half way across the world and then coming back because he was accused of being a coward by the person he left to protect in the first place," she finished for him, feeling thoroughly ashamed of herself. "You haven't been the only one doing a lot of thinking in these last few weeks." She took a deep steadying breath. "I'm sorry for what I said to you in Snagov. It's no excuse, but I was angry and hurt..."

"And right," he said. "You were right." He reached in to the pocket of his jacket. "You should take this back, it belongs to you." He took the mug of tea from her, now gone cold and replaced it with a thick, but worn red ribbon and the slightly tarnished gold medallion which hung from it.

She ran her fingers over the familiar crevices in the medal, still warm from lying in his pocket against his body. "I'll take good care of it," she said, closing her fingers over it tightly.

"I know you will," he said, his hand coming to rest over hers, squeezing gently, then taking a step back, turning to look behind them.

She turned as well and saw that people were beginning to emerge from their tents, stretching and greeting each other.

"We better get back," she said, putting the gold medal in her own pocket.

"Payson," he said, before she could begin moving towards the small circle of tents. "Monday morning, we start again."

"Good," she said, smiling, "because I've got to work something out on vault. A 4.8 start value will kill me at Worlds."

His smile matched hers as they began to walk away from the lake, "I'm sure we'll figure something out."

"I'm sure we will," she said, her hand still deep inside her pocket, holding onto his gold medal and perhaps something even more important than that, with all her might, because come Monday, everything would begin again.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Just a little drabble. After the last episode I was pissed as hell at both Sasha and Payson for sharing their knowledge of Emily's pregnancy with people who honestly had no business knowing. Obviously, I ship them, but I think a conversation between them would have been much more productive than the one's that took place on screen. Also, I feel like they needed a little bit more closure in regards to what happened before Sasha left and then the circumstances that brought him back. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this. It's almost MIOBI Monday again! Make sure you tune it. The show needs ratings and i need more episodes this Fall to be inspired by and we won't have one without the other.


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